Royal Holloway,
University of London
Department of Politics and
International Relations
(including Philosophy)
2016-2017
Course Information Booklet
Dear Students….
What is this document about?

At this time of the year, we ask you to indicate your selection of course options for next
year; details of which courses are running are listed in this document. The combination of
courses which you can take depends upon your degree programme.

The information contained in this booklet is provisional and subject to change. The final
programme will be confirmed and updated in the Departmental Student Handbooks
2016-2017 during Welcome Week/Registration Week in September 2016.

Please read the information below carefully and take time to consider your courses fully
before making your choices.
How to complete your Course Option Form.

Course Option forms showing the options available to your degree will be emailed to
you for you to complete. You will receive these forms by 4th March 2016.

Read through the descriptions of course options and make your selection, making sure
that courses you have selected fit in with your programme of study, and that you
have fulfilled any prerequisites.

Carefully complete the Course Option form. Only one form is allowed to be submitted
per student.
How to return your Course Option Form.

Completed Course Option forms must be attached to an email and returned to
[email protected]

Emails will be accepted from 00.01am Monday 14th March 2016 until Midnight
24th March 2016.

Any forms emailed prior to this date and time will not be accepted by the box.

Paper copies will not be accepted at the office.
Who to contact for further advice?
Query Type
Name
Email
Individual course
query
Please contact the Course Convenor
during one of their office hours
General
PIR advice
Dr John Mattausch,
Academic Co-ordinator
[email protected]
General Philosophy
advice
Dr Neil Gascoigne,
Philosophy Programme Director
[email protected]

We will make every effort to ensure that your course choices are met, however this
may not be possible for every student

Places will be allocated on a first come first served basis

Courses may be withdrawn if there is insufficient demand for them

Additional/new courses will be advertised if/when they become available
Contents
SECOND YEAR EUROPEAN STUDIES COURSES ............................................................................................... 6
ES2001
COMPARATIVE POLITICS OF EUROPE AND THE EU ................................................................ 6
SECOND YEAR POLITICS AND ............................................................................................................................ 7
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS COURSES ........................................................................................................... 7
PR2440
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS THEORY ....................................................................................... 7
PR2480
DEMOCRACY IN BRITAIN .............................................................................................................. 7
PR2490
CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL THEORY ........................................................................................ 8
PR2500
INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL ECONOMY .................................................................................... 8
PR2510
THE POLITICS OF MIGRATION AND ETHNICITY ........................................................................ 8
PR2520
EMPIRE AND DECOLONISATION................................................................................................. 9
PR2540
POLITICAL BEHAVIOUR ................................................................................................................. 9
PR2550
WAR AND SECURITY IN WORLD POLITICS............................................................................... 10
PR2580
INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS .......................................................................................... 10
PR2590
THE POLITICS OF HUMAN RIGHTS ............................................................................................ 11
PR2600
INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL COMMUNICATION ............................................................... 11
SECOND YEAR PHILOSOPHY COURSES .......................................................................................................... 12
PY2001
INTRODUCTION TO EUROPEAN PHILOSOPHY 1: FROM KANT TO HEGEL ......................... 12
PY2002
MIND AND WORLD ..................................................................................................................... 12
PY2003
INTRODUCTION TO EUROPEAN PHILOSOPHY 2: THE CRITIQUE OF IDEALISM ................. 12
PY2102
PRACTICAL ETHICS....................................................................................................................... 13
PY2105
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION ........................................................................................................ 13
PY2xxx
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION ........................................................................................................ 14
CL2655
THE GOOD LIFE IN ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY ............................................................................. 14
THIRD YEAR EUROPEAN STUDIES COURSES ................................................................................................. 15
ES3001
PUBLIC POLICY AND FOREIGN POLICY IN THE EUROPEAN UNION .................................... 15
THIRD YEAR POLITICS AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS COURSES ........................................................ 16
PR3000
DISSERTATION .............................................................................................................................. 16
PR3100
POLITICS IN ACTION .................................................................................................................... 16
PR3520
THE POLITICS OF THE INTERNET AND THE INFORMATION SOCIETY .................................. 16
PR3540
RADICAL POLITICAL THEORY ..................................................................................................... 17
PR3550
THE BRITISH IN INDIA: A SOCIAL AND POLITICAL HISTORY ................................................. 17
PR3560
THE POLITICS OF TOLERATION .............................................................................................. 18
PR3570
SOCIAL JUSTICE: FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE ................................................................... 18
PR3600
CONTEMPORARY MIDDLE EAST POLITICS............................................................................ 18
PR3610
COMPARATIVE DEMOCRACY AND ELECTIONS ................................................................... 19
PR3620
US FOREIGN POLICY................................................................................................................. 19
PR3670
COMPARATIVE FOREIGN POLICY ........................................................................................... 19
PR3680
YOUNG PEOPLE’S POLITICS .................................................................................................... 20
PR3690
THE MAKING OF MODERN SOUTH ASIA .............................................................................. 20
PR3700
GENDERED COMMUNITIES: WOMEN AND NATIONALISM IN THE MIDDLE EAST,
NORTH AFRICA AND SOUTH ASIA .............................................................................................................. 21
PR3760
THE POLITICS OF AFRICA......................................................................................................... 21
PR3770
DEFENCE IN THE POST-COLD WAR WORLD ......................................................................... 21
PR3860
UNDERSTANDING CHINA’S RISE: DOMESTIC POLITICS AND FOREIGN POLICY ............. 22
THIRD YEAR PHILOSOPHY COURSES .............................................................................................................. 23
PY3001
DISSERTATION IN PHILOSOPHY ............................................................................................. 23
CL3655
THE GOOD LIFE IN ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY ........................................................................... 25
THIRD YEAR PPE COURSE ................................................................................................................................. 26
PE3000 ............................................................................................................................................................. 26
Advanced Seminar and Dissertation in Politics, Philosophy and Economics (Full unit course Autumn and Spring Terms)........................................................................................................................... 26
5
SECOND YEAR EUROPEAN STUDIES COURSES
ES2001
COMPARATIVE POLITICS OF EUROPE AND THE EU
(Full course unit – Autumn and Spring Terms)
Course Description – Term 1 focuses on the Comparative Politics of European countries, introducing
students to what we know about institutions like parliaments, the tendency for power-sharing in divided
societies, and the role of written constitutions. In term 2, students will learn about the politics and
political institutions of the EU. Over the term, students will cover the European Commission, the Council of
the EU, the European Parliament, European Court, the Democratic Deficit, the role of Euroscepticism, and
the politics of European parliamentary elections.
Course Leader –Dr Giacomo Benedetto
Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
Assessment – End of year examination (50%) and assessed coursework (50%)
Note: this course is a prerequisite for studying the third year course: ES3001 Public Policy and Foreign
Policy in the European Union.
6
SECOND YEAR POLITICS AND
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS COURSES
PR2440
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS THEORY
(Full course unit – Autumn and Spring Terms)
Course Description – This course explores the key theoretical thinkers and debates in IR. These develop a
variety of ways of thinking about IR, drawing on questions about the nature of power, identity and ethics
in politics and what happens to these in the international realm. The course is divided into two parts. Part
one explores mainstream theories, including realism, liberalism and constructivism. Part two deals with
critical approaches to IR theory, including Marxism, post-structuralism, feminism and post-colonialism.
The emphasis throughout the course is on reading original key thinkers. What problems and issues did
these thinkers confront and how did they try to explain them? How well are their concerns and
approaches reflected in current IR issues and debates? Which theories best help us understand the
practice of international politics? At the end of each part of the course, there will be a special revision
session where the class will watch and discuss a film.
Course Leader – Duncan Depledge
Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
Assessment– Assessed coursework (50%) End of year examination (50%)
PR2480
DEMOCRACY IN BRITAIN
(Full course unit – Autumn and Spring Terms)
Course Description – This course explores the theory and practice of modern British democratic politics. It is
designed primarily to familiarise students with the ways in which British government has evolved, and how it
continues to operate in an era of mass democracy. Students taking the course will gain knowledge of the
‘nuts and bolts’ of the political system, but they will also learn about why the system operates in the way it
does, as well as the implications for the quality of democratic governance in Britain. The course is organised
into four parts. Part I briefly introduces the emergence of Britain as a democracy and the nature of the
current political system. Part II then looks in greater depth at various components of the modern democratic
state, including electoral systems, referendums, Parliament and the core executive. Part III addresses the
major democratic forces in modern British politics, namely the major political parties, which shape, as well as
operate in, the political system. Finally, Part IV looks at some of the recent add-ons to Britain’s democratic
terrain, including devolution, membership of the European Union and a more assertive judiciary. Part IV
concludes with a reassessment of what democracy means in Britain today.
Course Leader – Dr Andy Chadwick
Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
Assessment- End of year examination (50%) and assessed coursework (50%)
7
PR2490
CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL THEORY
(Full course unit – Autumn and Spring Terms)
Course Description – Underlying policy debate in contemporary states are political ideas and theories about
how we should organise the state, how much people should participate in politics, whether we should
redistribute wealth within the state; what human rights we should endorse, on what basis the state may
punish people; whether the liberal democratic capitalist state is patriarchal or exploitative; and what our
obligations are to strangers overseas. The aim of Contemporary Political Theory is to examine these key
concepts and the thinkers who have developed them in political theory today. Specifically, it examines
themes of political obligation; social justice (including exploitation, gender justice and global justice);
punishment; democracy, community, utilitarianism; human rights; freedom and toleration; and writers
including Rawls, Sandel, MacIntyre, Okin, Foucault and Connolly. The course aims to show how abstract ideas
have practical relevance, and conversely how current debates in politics are illuminated by thinking about
them theoretically.
Course Leaders – Dr Jonathan Seglow, Prof Nathan Widder
Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
Assessment – End of year examination (50%) and assessed coursework (50%)
PR2500
INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL ECONOMY
(Full course unit – Autumn and Spring Terms)
Course Description – This course examines the relationship between states and markets, power and
wealth, in International Political Economy (IPE). It introduces students to the key concepts and theoretical
debates in IPE. It tackles issues such as the globalisation of trade, finance, and production, the continued
problems of development and democratic governance in the world economy, and emerging questions
surrounding global flows, networks and spaces. Students are taken through the history of regimes, crises,
and competing theories of political economy from the nineteenth century to the present day. Throughout
the course the emphasis is on how political institutions operate in international politics to regulate the
creation of wealth, and who benefits from these arrangements.
Course Leader – Prof Andreas Goldthau
Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
Assessment – End of year examination (50%) and assessed coursework (50%)
PR2510
THE POLITICS OF MIGRATION AND ETHNICITY
(Full course unit – Autumn and Spring Terms)
Course Description – This course examines the chief patterns of post–war British migration, the character
and fortunes of New Commonwealth settlers, the current patterns of migration and the current political
attempts to manage migration. It examines how social and political scientists have addressed issues of
migration and ethnicity and considers the analytical classification of minority communities, current
debates over British Muslims, and the rise of religious citizenship.
Course Leader – Dr John Mattausch
Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
Assessment – End of year examination (50%) and assessed coursework (50%)
8
PR2520
EMPIRE AND DECOLONISATION
(Full Unit: Autumn and Spring Terms)
Course Description – The course aims to introduce students to some of the key themes in understanding
empire and decolonization, and the consequences of this for world politics. It encourages comparative
thought across geographical locations and time zones and should lead students to apply theoretical
analysis to case–studies drawn primarily from former Asian and African parts of the British empire. It is
hoped that this course will stimulate reflection on the implications of both formal and informal empire for
contemporary economics and political institutions. Students will be encouraged to appreciate the impact
of empire and decolonization on both colonised and coloniser societies through development, migration
and the creation of autonomous nation–states. The explicit aim will be to provide new insights and to
provoke debate about the ways in which international political power relationships have evolved.
Course Leader – Dr Antara Datta
Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
Assessment – Assessed coursework (60%) and two–hour exam (40%)
PR2540
POLITICAL BEHAVIOUR
(Full course unit – Autumn and Spring Terms)
Course Description – As the primary mechanism with which to implement the principle of popular
sovereignty, electoral participation has received attention of academics, policy makers and the media
alike. This course focusses on the various ways in which individuals directly or indirectly influence political
choices at various levels of the political system. It examines the relationship between voters and political
parties, and considers the theory and practice of how electors decide whether to vote (or not) and whom
to vote for. However, voting in elections is only one way in which citizens can try to influence policy
outcomes. In this course more direct forms of political action, such as participation in protests and social
movements, are also addressed. The course contains both a theoretical and an empirical component.
Students will be encouraged to assess the evidence for competing explanations of political behaviour
through readings drawn from research on countries across Western Europe and North America. Besides
an understanding of the main theories and main questions in the field of political behaviour, the course
will provide students with a thorough understanding of how to conduct systematic empirical research and
critically appraise it.
Course Leader – Dr Kaat Smets
Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
Assessment – End of year examination (50%) and assessed coursework (50%)
9
PR2550
WAR AND SECURITY IN WORLD POLITICS
(Full course unit – Autumn and Spring Terms)
Course Description – This course provides comprehensive overview for second year undergraduate
students of the subject of Security Studies as a sub–field of International Relations. The course is divided
into three parts. The first section will look at the issue of war and how war are/should be fought. The
second section looks at the issue of security itself and how this has changed from a theoretical
perspective. The third section analyses a variety of security issues, including nuclear weapons, cyber
security, genocide and small arms.
Course Leader – Dr Michelle Bentley
Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
Assessment – End of year examination (50%) and assessed coursework (50%)
PR2580
INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS
(Full course unit – Autumn and Spring Terms)
Course Description – Students will tackle a number of contemporary debates on international
organisations that are central to public debate: the meaning and forms of international organisations,
issues of authority, power and legitimacy; how states and non-state actors (particularly INGOs and
Business) have shaped the nature and scope of international cooperation and the effects that participation
in international institutions has upon policy-making, styles of governance and institutional configuration
at the national and sub-national levels. We will also examine the role of hegemonic powers, in particular
the impact of the United States over the post-war and post-Cold War eras and the implications of the rise
of new powers such as Brazil, China and India upon international organisations.
A key question that the course will examine is the extent to which these challenges are leading to a
shift away from an international system characterized by the notion of state sovereignty and the control of
policy development and implementation by the central political authority of the nation-state, to a
diffusion of power and competencies. It will examine the diffusion of competencies ‘horizontally’ to
private actors such as INGOs and Transnational Corporations and ‘vertically’ to regional and international
organisations. The module will critically assess the analytical leverage that can be attained about these
questions through the application of IR theory: realist, liberal and constructivist approaches. It will also
focus on approaches drawn from political science theory, notably the literatures on multi-level
governance, public policy theories, neo-Marxism and ‘new’ institutionalism.
Course Leader –Dr Tim Stevens
Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
Assessment – Final examination (50%) and assessed coursework (50%)
10
PR2590
THE POLITICS OF HUMAN RIGHTS
(Full unit course – Autumn and Spring Terms)
Course Description – This course aims to introduce students to the historical origins, key concepts and
current debates in the modern study of human rights. It will cover a range of topics including
humanitarian intervention, genocide, transitional justice, terrorism, economic rights and the promotion of
human rights by non-governmental organizations and utilizing “new media”. It will give students a broad
overview of the field and provide a foundation in the fundamentals integral for further study in specific
areas. In addition to the theoretical origins of human rights, attention will be paid to current policy
debates and efforts to measure the impact of various human rights mechanisms.
Course Leader – tbc
Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
Assessment – End of year examination (40%) and coursework (60%)
PR2600
INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL COMMUNICATION
(Full course unit – Autumn and Spring Terms)
Course Description – The purpose of this course is to provide students with a broad overview of how
citizens, politicians and the media interact across Western democracies during both electoral and
governing periods. The first part of the course will focus on the production and consumption of political
news, while the second part will address election campaigns and their effects as well as focusing on
contemporary debates in political communication, including ethical issues. While the course will cover key
aspects of political communication in the United Kingdom, the focus will be mostly comparative. Seminars
are centred on practical activities that allow students to apply the knowledge presented in the course to
contemporary real-world examples of political communication in action. Examples include analysis of
political speeches, advertisements, candidate debates, campaign strategies, and news coverage of political
issues.
Course Leader – Dr Cristian Vaccari
Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and activity-based seminars
Assessment – Essay 1 due at the end of Autumn term (25%), Essay 2 due at the end of Spring term (25%),
End of year three-hour unseen examination (50%)
11
SECOND YEAR PHILOSOPHY COURSES
PY2001
INTRODUCTION TO EUROPEAN PHILOSOPHY 1: FROM KANT TO HEGEL
(Half course unit, Autumn Term)
Course Description – This course introduces students to aspects of key texts by Kant and Hegel which
form the foundation of the major debates in both European, and some analytical, philosophy. Students
will be introduced to the interpretation of difficult philosophical texts. Major issues concerning
epistemology, ethics, and aesthetics will be introduced which will be central to the rest of their
philosophical and other studies in the humanities and social sciences.
Course Leader – Dr Alexis Papazoglou
Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
Assessment -- Coursework: Essay (30%), Essay (70%)
PY2002
MIND AND WORLD
(Half course unit – Spring Term)
Course Description – This course examines some of the major metaphysical and epistemological
problems that arise when attempting to understand how mind and language figure in human interactions
with and in the world. It centres on attempts to conceptualise, solve, or avoid mind-body related problems
in the analytic tradition and aims to contrast these with phenomenological and existential investigations
of cognate phenomena.
Course Leader – Dr Neil Gascoigne
Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
Assessment –Essay, 2,000-2,500 words (50%); Examination: 2 hours (50%)
PY2003
INTRODUCTION TO EUROPEAN PHILOSOPHY 2: THE CRITIQUE OF IDEALISM
(Half course unit – Spring Term)
Course Description – Following on from PY2001, this course introduces students to key nineteenth
century texts which are critical of ‘Idealism’, and which adumbrate the notion of the ‘end of
philosophy/metaphysics’. The course will be run on the basis of independent study, guided by the course
staff.
Course Leader –Dr Alexis Papazoglou
Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
Assessment – Essay 1,500 words (30%); Essay 2,500 words (70%)
12
PY2101
PHILOSOPHY OF PSYCHOLOGY
(Full course unit – Autumn and Spring Terms)
Course Description – to be confirmed
Course Leader – Dr Rebecca Roache
Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
Assessment – End of year examination (50%) and assessed coursework (50%)
PY2XXX
PHILOSOPHY OF PSYCHOLOGY
(Half course unit, Autumn Term)
Course Description – to be confirmed
Course Leader - Dr Rebecca Roache
Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
Assessment – Coursework: Essay (50%), End of year examination (50%)
PY2102
PRACTICAL ETHICS
(Half course unit – Spring Term)
Course Description The aim of this course is to allow students to develop their abilities to apply
theoretical ethical considerations to practical ethical situations. We will look at a number of different
ethical issues such as abortion, euthanasia, the rights of animals, what rights the state has to constrain the
behaviour of its citizens, human enhancement (through technology, medicine, DNA manipulation), the
relationship between justice and punishment, and our responsibilities to the environment. Each week
there will be a lecture addressing a different issue, followed by a seminar in which influential papers on
the topic are discussed to determine how successful they are in analysing the ethical issue at stake. We
will consider the abilities of various ethical theories to adequately characterise our concrete ethical life,
and determine what this characterisation says about us as ethical individuals.
Course Leader – Dr Rebecca Roache
Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
Assessment – Essay 2000 words (50%); Examination: 2 hours (50%)
PY2105
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
(Full course unit – Autumn and Spring Terms)
Course Description – The aim of this course is to introduce students to philosophical approaches to
religion in both the Anglo-American and the European traditions, and to enable them to understand and
critically evaluate the arguments and approaches underlying these traditions. In the first term, we will
concentrate on David Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, which, as well as being an important
work of philosophical literature, explores many of the central philosophical arguments concerning religion,
such as the validity of the proofs for the existence of God, and the problem of evil. We will supplement
this text with modern readings where appropriate. In the second term, we will look at three central figures
in the European philosophical tradition that exemplify the kinds of existential approaches to religion
13
developed in the nineteenth and twentieth century. Indicative figures would be Friedrich Schleiermacher,
Søren Kierkegaard, G. W. F. Hegel, Karl Barth, Sigmund Freud, or Paul Tillich. As well as giving students a
grounding in the philosophy of religion, the course will also enable students to develop their abilities to
understand and evaluate arguments, and to interpret complex philosophical texts.
Course Leader – Henry Somers-Hall
Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
Assessment – Assessed Coursework (100%)
PY2xxx
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
(Half course unit, Autumn Term)
Course Description – This course will comprise the first term of the longer philosophy of religion course.
It will concentrate on Anglo-American approaches to the philosophy of religion. We will concentrate on
David Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, which, as well as being an important work of
philosophical literature, explores many of the central philosophical arguments concerning religion, such as
the validity of the proofs for the existence of God, and the problem of evil. We will supplement this text
with modern readings where appropriate.
Course Leader – Henry Somers-Hall
Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
Assessment – Assessed Coursework (100%)
CL2655
THE GOOD LIFE IN ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY
(Full course unit – Autumn and Spring Terms)
Course Description - What is the best kind of life? Is moral virtue sufficient for happiness? Does morality
require a special kind of knowledge or wisdom? Is a good life a pleasant life and are some pleasures
better than others? This course examines the answers given by ancient Greek philosophers to questions
such as these, studying early Greek views about the good life and those of Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus and
the Stoics
Course Leader – Prof. Anne Sheppard
Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
Assessment – End of year examination (80%) and coursework (20% – the better of two essays of 20003000 words each)
14
THIRD YEAR EUROPEAN STUDIES COURSES
ES3001
PUBLIC POLICY AND FOREIGN POLICY IN THE EUROPEAN UNION
(Full course unit – Autumn and Spring Terms)
Course Description – This course concentrates on those issues dominating the European agenda. Among
the topics for consideration are the role of political institutions in managing the world’s largest single
market, the euro and its crisis, European social and environmental policies, the agricultural policy, the EU
budget, enlargement, institutional reform, common foreign and security policy and the EU’s economic and
political relations with its immediate neighbourhood and the wider world.
Course Leaders – Dr Giacomo Benedetto
Course Delivery – There will be one lecture and one tutorial per week. Both are compulsory.
Prerequisite – ES2001 Comparative Politics of Europe and the EU
Assessment – End of year examination (50%) and assessed coursework (50%)
15
THIRD YEAR POLITICS AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
COURSES
PR3000
DISSERTATION
(Full course unit – Autumn and Spring Terms)
Course Description – In the third year of your degree course you are required to write a Dissertation of
9,000 words in length. This Dissertation is equivalent to one full Course Unit. It is an opportunity for you to
examine, in greater depth, an area of interest to you. Each student will have a member of staff to act as a
supervisor. The role of the supervisor is to help and guide you with your Dissertation. A series of
Dissertation workshops is held during the first five weeks of the Autumn term, attendance at which is
compulsory.
Course Leader – Dr Antara Datta
Course Delivery – Dissertation workshops and individual supervision.
Assessment – Dissertation (95%) and dissertation proposal (5%)
PR3100
POLITICS IN ACTION
(Full course unit – Autumn and Spring Terms)
Course Description – A university degree opens many doors to careers but the experience and skills
enhanced during a placement provide extra dimension to the qualification. The Politics in Action
placement scheme is a third-year undergraduate, assessed, full-unit module. It has a novel structure which
combines participation in a workplace environment for one day a week during term time (and three days a
week for each term’s reading week) with scholarly reflection on the nature of the organizational,
professional, and policy contexts of the placement.
Course Leader – Dr Tim Stevens
Course Delivery – Work Placement/Internship
Assessment – Coursework only: mid-module skills report (25%); presentation (15%); placement report
(60%)
PR3520
THE POLITICS OF THE INTERNET AND THE INFORMATION SOCIETY
(Half course unit –Autumn Term)
Course Description – This course provides a detailed examination of the use and impact of the Internet
and other information and communication technologies in global, state, party and civil societal structures.
It focuses on a number of important contemporary debates about the role and influence of network
technologies on the values, processes and outcomes of: global governance institutions; public
bureaucracies; representative institutions including political parties and legislatures; pressure groups and
social movements. It also examines persistent and controversial policy problems thrown up by
‘information age’ ICTs, specifically: the digital divide; privacy and surveillance; intellectual property issues;
and the power of the new media sector in domestic and global economies.
Course Leader – Professor Dr Andrew Chadwick
Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
Assessment – End of year examination (50%) and assessed coursework (50%)
16
PR3530
THE POLITICS OF MODERN GERMANY
(Full course unit – Autumn and Spring Terms)
Course Description – This course focuses on understanding the emergence of the Federal Republic of
Germany since 1949. It begins by examining the post–war development of the two Germanys under the
conditions of the Cold War. It then deals with the re–unification process marked by the fall of the Berlin
Wall, and looks at its impact upon the Federal Republic. In the second term, the course will turn to
contemporary issues in German politics, dealing with such issues as the Euro Crisis, the impact of
immigration on German politics and Germany’s role in foreign and security policy. to investigate the main
domestic and international challenges facing the German model since unification.
Course Leaders – Dr James Sloam
Course Delivery – 2 hour weekly seminars
Assessment – End of year examination (50%) and assessed coursework (50%)
PR3540
RADICAL POLITICAL THEORY
(Full course unit – Autumn and Spring terms)
Course Description – This course aims to introduce students to key questions and arguments concerning
the relationship between identity, power, meaning and knowledge, through examination of major thinkers
from Hegel to contemporary Continental philosophers. It should lead students to appreciate critiques of
modern Western societies and their values, which not only underpin recent “postmodernist” or “poststructuralist” thought but also form crucial theoretical elements in debates about gender, multiculturalism,
nationalism, post-colonialism, new social movements, etc., across the social sciences and humanities. It
aims to develop in students the ability to critically reflect about the nature and scope of politics and ethics
through engagement with texts that have sought to provide insights and new ways of thinking about
these realms.
Course Delivery – 2 hour weekly seminars
Assessment – End of year examination (60%) and assessed coursework (40%)
PR3550
THE BRITISH IN INDIA: A SOCIAL AND POLITICAL HISTORY
(Full course unit – Autumn and Spring Terms)
Course Description – This course begins with the arrival of the British, in 1608, in Gujarat, west India. We
examine why and how the British came, how they lived and conducted themselves and their business
during the 17th century, how they began their rise to power in the 18th century, the relationship of the
British to the Native States, British rule before and after the Mutiny/Uprising, the growth of Bombay, the
life and campaigning of Gujarat’s most famous son, Gandhi, and the nationalist struggles in west India. We
examine competing explanations for how the British were, with very few forces, able to conquer and rule
India, and we consider the comparative technological development of the two countries. We conclude by
looking at how Gujarat fared after Independence, ending in 2002 with the Godhra massacre.
By the end of the course, students should: be familiar with British–Gujarati history and its chief dynamics;
have a grounded understanding of the interplay of economic and socio–political formations, identity and
cultural conflict; understand the dynamics and character of past and present–day Indian migratory
movements.
17
A feature of this course is the use of original accounts written by Britishers living in India; these are all
available on the Course’s Moodle site in PDF files, or on the Web.
Course Leader – Dr John Mattausch
Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
Assessment – End of year examination (50%) and assessed coursework (50%)
PR3560
THE POLITICS OF TOLERATION
(Half course unit –Autumn Term)
Course Description – Toleration is about not interfering with other people’s freedom when you believe
what they are doing is wrong. In contemporary societies marked by different cultures, religions, ideologies
and convictions, toleration is an indispensable virtue for citizens. This course explores the political theory
of toleration, examining its key concepts and the practical controversies associated with it. Topics covered
include; the harm paradigm - J.S. Mill’s On Liberty; the offence paradigm; freedom of expression (including
‘hate speech’); freedom of association and illiberal minorities; the headscarves debate; freedom of
religious conscience; the right to cultural survival; the justification of paternalism; and international
toleration (human rights and cultural relativism).
Course Leader – Dr Jonathan Seglow
Course Delivery – Two hour weekly lecture/seminar
Assessment – End of year examination (50%) and assessed coursework (50%)
PR3570
SOCIAL JUSTICE: FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE
(Half course unit – Spring Term)
Course Description – Social justice is concerned with the fair distribution in society of goods such as
economic opportunity and money and other resources. This course considers some of the key concepts
and debates about social justice that have taken place in political theory since John Rawls’s pathbreaking,
A Theory of Justice (1971). The first half of the course is more theoretical and considers some fundamental
questions of social justice including the meaning of equality, the nature of desert, why exactly
discrimination is wrong and the value of meritocracy. The second half is more applied and considers
some contemporary questions of justice and how political theory can illuminate them. These include the
debate over a citizens’ income, the limits to markets, global poverty, immigration, and climate change.
Course Leader – Dr Jonathan Seglow
Course Delivery – Two hour weekly lecture/seminar
Assessment – End of year examination (50%) and assessed coursework (50%)
PR3600
CONTEMPORARY MIDDLE EAST POLITICS
(Full course unit – Autumn and Spring Terms)
Course Description – The course surveys political systems, movements, conflicts and trends in the
contemporary Middle East. It explores the international and regional context of current problems and
conditions, including the process of state formation, variations in regime consolidation and state–society
relations, regional rivalries and conflicts, the Islamist challenge, the political economy of development, and
democracy and civil society.
Course Leader – Prof Sandra Halperin
Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
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Assessment – End of year examination (50%) and assessed coursework (50%)
PR3610
COMPARATIVE DEMOCRACY AND ELECTIONS
(Full course unit Autumn and Spring Term)
Course Description – This course examines the different ways in which democracy has taken root around
the world, how it is locally understood and practiced, and the factors that have shaped its development.
Drawing on in–depth case studies and comparative analysis it critically examines how institutions,
historical legacies, the social and economic context, and the relationship between voters and political
parties shape democratic politics in different and sometimes hostile environments. In doing so it not only
addresses issues about the sources of democratic survival and breakdown, but should lead students to
question the universality of Western notions of Liberal Democracy, and to appreciate the global diversity
of democratic experiences as they are practiced on the ground.
Course Leader – Dr Oliver Heath
Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
Assessment – End of year examination (50%) and assessed coursework (50%)
PR3620
US FOREIGN POLICY
(Full course unit Autumn and Spring Term)
Course Description – This course focuses on the foreign policy of the United States of America. It outlines
the theoretical frameworks for understanding US foreign policy as well as the founding principles and
ideas that underpin the US approach to international politics. This goes back to the founding fathers and
America’s initial rise to power (up until the end of World War II) to analyse the key themes that shape US
foreign policy today. The course then analyses the historical development of US foreign policy right to
the present day. It also analyses foreign policy in key regions, such as the Middle East, as well as core
issues. It concludes with a look at the argument on US decline and what US foreign policy may look like in
the future.
Course Leader – Dr Michelle Bentley
Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
Assessment – End of year examination (50%) and assessed coursework (50%)
PR3670
COMPARATIVE FOREIGN POLICY
(Half course unit –Autumn Term)
Course Description – Students will study the core concepts associated with foreign policy analysis (eg
national interest, policy making processes, negotiation, etc) as well as the foreign policies of key selected
states with a clear empirical emphasis on the post–Cold War period. The states selected are will include
the UK, Germany, the Soviet Union/Russia, and India. Students will examine the influences on foreign
policy in these different national contexts (for example, as public opinion) and through different case
studies (such as recent Russian intervention in the Ukraine). The course will also explore how foreign
policy is implemented through various policy instruments such as trade, diplomacy and military force.
Course Leader – Dr James Sloam
Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
Assessment – End of year examination (50%) and assessed coursework (40%) tutorial assessment (10%)
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PR3680
YOUNG PEOPLE’S POLITICS
(Half course unit – Spring Term)
Course Description – This course introduces students to issues surrounding declining political
participation and the changing politics of young people (15–25 year olds) in the UK and beyond. Students
will examine both participation in conventional forms of politics (voting and party membership), and
engagement in the alternative forms of action such as the global wave of youth protest that has emerged
since the onset of the recent financial crisis. It will look at contending perspectives on young people’s
politics (Are the young less interested? Do they participate less? Why do they participate? What form does
their political action take?), and at how youth politics has changed through, for example, demographic
trends (i.e. an ageing population), value change (the individualisation of society), and a changing state
(e.g. the withdrawal of state good for younger citizens such as free university education. The course will
also examine possible solutions, to strengthen youth engagement, from citizenship education to the
lowering of the voting age to 16.
Course Leader – Dr James Sloam
Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
Assessment – End of year examination (50%) and assessed coursework (40%) tutorial assessment (10%)
PR3690
THE MAKING OF MODERN SOUTH ASIA
(Full course unit – Autumn and Spring term)
Course Description – The politics of South Asia – India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh - are central to
understanding some of the themes at the core of modern politics: poverty and development, security and
warfare, migration and transnationalism, decolonisation and post colonialism, the international economy
and globalisation. This course deals with the social and political development of these countries since
independence from British rule in 1947. We will analyse issues including caste politics, the role of religious
violence and the place of women in politics and society. Sources will come from a range of disciplines –
politics and IR, history, sociology, anthropology, novels and films. We will study regional cooperation and
conflict including the troubled relationship between India and Pakistan over Kashmir and their nuclear
status. By the end of the course you will have a specialised understanding of the major social, economic
and political developments in the region.
Course Leader – Dr Antara Datta
Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
Assessment – End of year examination (50%) and assessed coursework (50%)
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PR3700
GENDERED COMMUNITIES: WOMEN AND NATIONALISM IN THE MIDDLE EAST,
NORTH AFRICA AND SOUTH ASIA
(Full course unit – Autumn and Spring term)
Course Description – This course will focus on how concepts of woman and gender have defined
meanings of religious and national communities in the Islamic Middle East and North Africa as well as
South Asia. It will survey changes in these concepts historically. We will use a variety of sources -- religious
texts and commentaries, literary and political writings, books of advice, women's writings, and films -- and
will look at how contemporary thinkers and activists ground themselves differently in this historical
heritage to constitute contesting positions regarding gender and national politics today
Course Leader – Dr Antara Datta
Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
Assessment –End of year examination (50%) and assessed coursework (50%)
PR3760
THE POLITICS OF AFRICA
(Full course unit – Autumn and Spring Terms)
Course Description – The course provides an introduction to the key themes of African politics, both
within the continent and in its international relations. There are three parts. The first gives an overview of
colonial and post-colonial politics across the continent, and an introduction to the key theoretical
approaches to the study of African politics. The second explores the themes of tradition and modernity
within domestic politics and the politics of conflict. The third focuses on external intervention in Africa,
exploring the ways in which liberal actors have constructed and intervened in Africa.
Course Leader – Dr Julia Gallagher
Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
Assessment – Final examination (40%), assessed course work (60%)
PR3770
DEFENCE IN THE POST-COLD WAR WORLD
(Full course unit – Autumn and Spring Terms)
Course Description: This module analyses the content and sources of change in defence policy during
the post-Cold War era. It focuses on changes to the objectives of defence policy, military capabilities,
force structures and doctrines of selected major military powers (US, UK, France, Germany, China, Russia).
It analyses how these reforms have helped states meet their central security challenges. In addition, the
module describes how defence policies are embedded within regional and international institutions and
explores the sources of defence cooperation. It also analyses the roles of non-state actors, notably private
military companies and NGOs, and their implications for defence policy and practice. This module is
informed by the insights of political science and International Relations approaches to the sources of
military change.
Course Leader – Dr Tim Stevens
Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
Assessment – Final examination (50%), assessed course work (50%)
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PR3860
UNDERSTANDING CHINA’S RISE: DOMESTIC POLITICS AND FOREIGN POLICY
(Full course unit – Autumn and Spring Terms)
Course Description – If the history of modern China was written as a novel its author would be accused
of losing touch with reality. During the twentieth century, China witnessed the collapse of a centuries-old
imperial system, two revolutions, foreign occupation and civil war, the introduction of a radical form of
communism under Mao Zedong, the retreat from communism following the death of Mao and the
adoption of capitalist style economic reforms, albeit still under the auspices of a nominally communist
ruling party. China has started the twenty-first century much as it started the last – in a state of transition
and flux. Home to around a quarter of the world’s population, the implementation of post-Mao economic
reforms has made China one of the fastest growing economies in the world. As China’s military
expenditure increases and economy expands, many believe that China will emerge as the next leading
superpower, eclipsing the United States some time during the next decade or so. Others predict that
China is on the brink of collapse, implosion and disaster with hundreds of millions currently out of work,
gross social and economic inequality and rampant official corruption.
This course seeks to understand contemporary Chinese politics. The first half of this course will examine
the domestic aspect of China. Will China become a democracy? Why does the one-party system in China
thrive? How does the communist party achieve economic opening while maintaining the authoritarian rule
politically? Are we witnessing the coming collaspe of the party? The second half of this course focuses on
China’s foreign relations. It is widely believed that China will (or even has already) replace the US to
become the next leading superpower. Many argue that a rising China and a declining US will be engaged
in security competition with considerable potential for war. Others argue that given its economic and
political openness, the current international order is well able to accommodate China’s peaceful rise. What
are the implications of China’s emergence as a global power? Can China rise peacefully? Will China
overthrow the exiting international order, or become a part of it? How to deal with the rise of China? The
course will enable students to understand China’s emergence as a global power and its implications.
Course Leader – Dr Jinghan Zeng
Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
Assessment – Final examination (50%), assessed course work (50%)
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THIRD YEAR PHILOSOPHY COURSES
PY3001
DISSERTATION IN PHILOSOPHY
(Full course unit – Autumn and Spring Terms)
Course Description – The dissertation is compulsory for all Philosophy students who are not taking a
dissertation or similar piece of extended work in their combined subject. It presents the opportunity to
demonstrate your skills as independent learners by embarking upon a substantial (8-10,000 words),
significant piece of written work. Ordinarily, the dissertation topic will derive from a course already taken,
or one the student has committed to take in their final year.
Course Leader – Dr Neil Gascoigne
Assessment – Dissertation, 8,000-10,000 words (100%)
PY3002
MODERN EUROPEAN PHILOSOPHY 1: FROM HUSSERL TO HEIDEGGER
(Half course unit – Autumn Term)
Course Description – This course introduces students to the work of two of the defining figures in
modern philosophy. The aim is to enable students to grasp the key ideas in phenomenology and of
Heidegger’s interrogation of the notion of ‘being’. Moreover, the point is to show what consequences
these ideas have for key political, social and other issues in the modern world.
Course Leader – Dr Alexis Papazoglou
Assessment – Assessed Coursework (100%)
PY3003
MODERN EUROPEAN PHILOSOPHY 2: POSTSTRUCTURALISM AND ITS CRITICS
(Half course unit – Spring Term)
Course Description – Following on from PY3002, this course introduces students to key developments in
European Philosophy after the Second World War, which form the basis of contemporary debates in both
philosophy and other subjects. The course will be run on the basis of independent study, guided by the
course staff.
Course Leader – Dr Alexis Papazoglou
Assessment –
Assessed Coursework (100%)
PY3004
RECOVERING REALITY
(Full course unit – Autumn and Spring Term)
Course Description - “Not empiricism and yet realism in philosophy, that is the hardest thing”
(Wittgenstein). In the empiricist tradition, experience is regarded as the great ‘teacher’; but what is
experience and what lessons does it teach? Meeting weekly for a two-hour seminar to discuss specific
readings, this course begins with the shift towards pragmatism found in the work of Quine, Davidson and
Sellars’ attack on the ‘myth of the given’. It continues in Term 1 with an in-depth engagement with the
work of the pragmatist Richard Rorty, and in particular with his book Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature.
In Term 2 we turn to the Wittgenstein-influenced work of John McDowell and his highly influential work
Mind and World, which takes as one of its starting points Rorty's criticism of empiricism and tries to
restore to philosophy the sense that some account of experience is required to make sense of the
‘otherness’ of the world.
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Course Leader – Dr Neil Gascoigne
Course Delivery – Weekly 2 hour seminar
Assessment – Assessed Coursework (100%)
PY3XXX
RECOVERING REALITY
(Half course unit – Autumn)
Course Description - “Not empiricism and yet realism in philosophy, that is the hardest thing”
(Wittgenstein). In the empiricist tradition, experience is regarded as the great ‘teacher’; but what is
experience and what lessons does it teach? Meeting weekly for a two-hour seminar to discuss specific
readings, this course begins with the shift towards pragmatism found in the work of Quine, Davidson and
Sellars’ influential attack on the ‘myth of the given’. It continues with an in-depth engagement with the
work of the pragmatist Richard Rorty, and in particular with his book Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature.
Course Leader – Dr Neil Gascoigne
Course Delivery – Weekly 2 hour seminar
Assessment – Assessed Coursework (100%)
PY3101
PHILOSOPHY OF PSYCHOLOGY
(Full course unit – Autumn and Spring Term)
Course Description – to be confirmed
Course Leader – Dr Rebecca Roache
Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
Assessment –fAssessed Coursework (50%) Examination (50%)
PY3XXX
PHILOSOPHY OF PSYCHOLOGY
(Half course unit – Autumn Term)
Course Description – to be confirmed
Course Leader – Dr Rebecca Roache
Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
Assessment – Assessed Coursework (50%) Examination (50%)
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PY3105
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
(Full course unit – Autumn and Spring Term)
Course Description – The aim of this course is to introduce students to philosophical approaches to
religion in both the Anglo-American and the European traditions, and to enable them to understand and
critically evaluate the arguments and approaches underlying these traditions. In the first term, we will
concentrate on David Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, which, as well as being an important
work of philosophical literature, explores many of the central philosophical arguments concerning religion,
such as the validity of the proofs for the existence of God, and the problem of evil. We will supplement
this text with modern readings where appropriate. In the second term, we will look at three central figures
in the European philosophical tradition that exemplify the kinds of existential approaches to religion
developed in the nineteenth and twentieth century. Indicative figures would be Friedrich Schleiermacher,
Søren Kierkegaard, G. W. F. Hegel, Karl Barth, Sigmund Freud, or Paul Tillich. As well as giving students a
grounding in the philosophy of religion, the course will also enable students to develop their abilities to
understand and evaluate arguments, and to interpret complex philosophical texts.
Course Leader – Henry Somers-Hall
Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
Assessment – Assessed Coursework (100%)
CL3655
THE GOOD LIFE IN ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY
(Full course unit – Autumn and Spring Terms)
Course Description - What is the best kind of life? Is moral virtue sufficient for happiness? Does morality
require a special kind of knowledge or wisdom? Is a good life a pleasant life and are some pleasures
better than others? This course examines the answers given by ancient Greek philosophers to questions
such as these, studying early Greek views about the good life and those of Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus and
the Stoics
Course Leader – Prof. Anne Sheppard
Course Delivery – Weekly lectures and seminars
Assessment – End of year examination, including a compulsory question with passages for comment from
set texts (80%) and coursework (20% – the better of two essays of 2000-3000 words each)
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THIRD YEAR PPE COURSE
PE3000
Advanced Seminar and Dissertation in Politics, Philosophy and Economics (Full unit course Autumn and Spring Terms)
Course description: This is a compulsory dissertation course for all third year PPE students and comprises
a series of advanced research seminars to go alongside students developing their dissertations with
individual supervisors. The first term will consist of seminars run led by staff from politics, philosophy and
economics, while in the second term seminars will be student led on the topics of individual student
dissertations, with students being responsible for setting readings and leading discussion. Peer review will
be an important component in the second term.
Course leader: TBC
Course delivery: Weekly seminars
Assessment: Organisation and management of second term seminar designed and led by the student
(25%, with assessment informed by peer review), and a research dissertation of 10,000 words (75%)
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